Throwback to Miss World Philippines 2011: Its first stand-alone National Pageant

In what was the first breakaway title from Bb. Pilipinas, the franchise of Miss World had a changing of guards after the 2010 edition (which left Bb. Pilipinas World 2010 Czarina Gatbonton with no actual successor to crown during Bb. Pilipinas 2011) where a dedicated national pageant was staged at the PICC for Miss World Philippines. It was a momentous inaugural edition under Cory Quirino which saw the winner getting a cool million pesos, a condominium unit from SMDC, a GMA7 management contract and the right to represent the country in London for Miss World 2011. Gwendoline Ruais was an unstoppable force in that batch. Aside from a statuesque height, she articulated herself well and possessed the X-factor that could be the winning formula in getting the blue crown. And she almost did after placing 1st Runner-Up to Ivian Sarcos of Venezuela. It won’t be for another two years before the country won its first Miss World crown, but that is topic for another entry during this throwback-filled home quarantine period.

I always thought she benefitted from JM culinary school.
Placememt is higher than what she really deserved.

She placing higher than Puerto Rico (yes, the more deserving Puerto Rican) was beyond me. I always thought it was due to her being the inaugural MWP under a new ND, and the connection her family has with the British Royals.

One of the biggest WTF moment In BbP when Gatby ‘PUNO’ beat Not only Gwen R. but other deserving candidates that year. I still believe a conspiracy theory that one of the coach(she no longer work the following year), manipulated the results putting Gatbys name in the semi finalist and the rest is history. I also believe that was the year when JM just lost it all, taking the franchise away from MSA.😅

It’s the BIGGEST REVENGE of GWENDOLINE RUAIS to STELLA ARANETA (and CZARINA GATBONTON). MSA CROWNED a SO-SO (therefore ordinary) candidate, SO TALO SA MW. In Joseph Vitug’s pre-pageant review, he said that if MAJORITY of the JUDGES are MALES, most likely Czarina WOULD WIN a CROWN. Indeed, he was right – majority of the judges were males & Czarina won.

TO AVOID of BECOMING ANOTHER JANINA SAN MIGUEL (her kababayan by the way), Czarina OPTED TO USE FILIPINO in answering the question. Was her answer excellent? My answer is NO. But, again the predominantly male judges loved her EXOTIC beauty. Gwedoline’s loss, however, gave her more time to hone herself and be a far better competitor, hence she won the first ever MWP title. She was also very competitive in London given her preliminary scores. Her 1st runner up placement was well deserved. She just lost points to Ms. Venezuela in terms of FACIAL BEAUTY & that Barbie doll like gown of the latter (I believe).

NOW, the question FLOR is – Ganito rin kaya ang mangyayari sa first ever Miss Universe Philippines? Will MICHELLE GUMABAO win the MUP title and earn the first runner up placement in Miss Universe this year? Sabi kasi ni Flor (dapat) hanggang 1st runner up LANG DAW muna ang AIM natin ngayong taong ito for a number of reasons. One of which is that Patch Magtanong is slated to join MUP in 2021.

With Flor’s CONCERN of Gazini NOT HAVING a successor, pabayaan na natin siyang manahimik. After all, SHE DID NOT DESERVE to WIN THE 2019 MUP title JUST LIKE the case of Czarina Gatbonton in 2010. Either ang Miss Grand International or runner up position lang muna ang dapat ibinigay kay Gazini. Hannah Arnold and Vickie Rushton gave WEAK ANSWERS (to their questions), BUT Gazini gave A WRONG REPLY and still won the MUP title. THAT’S INJUSTICE. So abangan ang susunod na kabanata…

@ Pierro Rocco I thought Gwendolyn’s connection to Parisian political elite was foremost on JM’s mind…,. Her uncle was a former Mayor of Paris?

I thought you were mulling MG for MWP? Anyway, granted MG does win MUP 2020, it would give MUP organization the STAR FACTOR they need BADLY to create BUZZ, which I think no one (else) in the current batch can match. Had Teresita Ssen joined, I could envision both “artistas” as the Final 2. Let’s face it! Pageantry, after the experience with Pia and Catriona, NEEDS SHOW BUSINESS to financially survive nowadays. It should “jolog-ize”, cut away its elitist origins.

What I meant when I said that we do not need to win yet is based on a comment I (also) saw here (in the blog) that alleges JG and company are working towards our fifth MU crown within as many years; anyway, they are just starting. Mahirap nga naman kung manalo on their first year tapos zero afterwards; better to take it progressively higher. Para quantifiable ang progression.

Gwen answer in MWP is the same as hers in MW. I think Catriona did the same back in 2016. But Megan Young tried not to copy paste her answers when she competed in both local and international pageant of MW in 2013.

March ends tomorrow. Two (2) WHOLE months – April & May – of on-line pageant activities, assuming the community quarantine will require extension….

June should hopefully allow some unlocking in time for the 2021-22 academic calendar to begin. Or, can we use this as opportunity to finally synchronize with the international/global scholastic schedule by starting ALL schools in August? Dep-Ed will have sufficient time to prepare….

I think August-September for all Nationals will be OK. Sunod-sunod na para matapos agad. Mr. Tinio, advise your organization contacts to plan for an August resumption. Anything within the next four (4) months might be a stretch, if not impossible given current situation.

August could be the earliest best-case…. But could run into Ghost Month…. How is July like to your Chinese geomancy experts? Will Metal Rat weaken with the Summer Solstice, 21 June?

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Hi! Norman here. When I'm not working, I spend most of my free time planning on daily blogs. If you will notice, I always make sure that a fresh topic comes out everyday - not an easy thing to do but it's all good. Thanks for dropping by and enjoy the visit!

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